Trademark for a restaurant

Tips for restaurant brands

As the saying goes: "You either eat to live or you live to eat". We certainly classify ourselves as the "live to eat" kind of people and, given the number of restaurants, fast food joints, food festivals, food trucks, gourmet foods (the list goes on) popping up, it appears that South Africans "live to eat" too.

The food industry is BIG business and if you can get it right with your branding, you could be looking at a fantastic expansion opportunity.

Let's take South Africa's very own NANDO'S brand. Starting from humble beginnings in the south of Johannesburg in 1987, the name NANDO'S and the infamous cockerel device can now be found in over 24 countries and 1000 outlets. That's a lot of chicken! Their flair for catchy (somewhat controversial) advertising has cemented their status in the hearts and minds of South Africans. NANDO'S is not all about fun and games though. They also take trademark protection seriously. At our last count, they had filed over 200 trade marks in South Africa alone.

In addition to NANDO'S, South Africa has other well‐loved classics. Think SPUR, WIMPY, OCEAN BASKET and one of the newer players in the market, ROCOMAMAS.

First and foremost, protect the name of the restaurant by filing in ordinary block capital letters i.e. MCDONALD'S. This gives the brand longevity as it covers all fonts, colours and so on. Next, protect any distinctive elements of the brand. For instance, McDonald's has protected their infamous "M" device and their slogan "I'M LOVING IT!".

Relevant classes

Class 43 is the most relevant class as it covers restaurants, bars, catering and so on. Other relevant classes are:

• Class 21 ‐ household or kitchen utensils
• Class 25 ‐ clothing
• Class 29 ‐ jams, cheese, liver pâté, meat
• Class 30 ‐ sauces, spices, cakes, chips, pasta
• Class 32 ‐ beers, waters, fruit juices
• Class 33 ‐ wine, liquor
• Class 41 ‐ entertainment

If you think of the likes of Jamie Oliver, who has expanded into almost every realm of food and kitchen based gadgets, restaurants and TV entertainment, you will soon realise that you could be sitting on the proverbial golden egg.

Visit Register Recipe to protect your new food:

Big player analysis

Mark	Class
STEERS word mark	29, 30, 43
WOMBLES 1984 STEAKHOUSE RESTAURANT word mark	43
MYTHOS word mark	29, 30, 43
MYTHOS ‐ LIVE YOUR MYTH logo	43
MYTHOS BEER word mark	32
SPUR word mark	29, 30, 43
HOME OF THE SPUR BURGER word mark	29, 30, 43
WIMPY word mark	29, 30, 43
WIMPY logo	29, 30, 43
TRIBECA word mark	43
TASHAS word mark	43
TASHAS logo	43
DEBONAIRS word mark	29, 30, 43
DEBONAIRS WE DELIVER SMARTLY word mark	43
KRISPY KREME word mark	21, 25, 30, 43